Title: Age of Myth
Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Pages: 418
Series: The Legends of the First Empire Book #1
Read via: Kindle

Summary: It was thought to be impossible for man to kill the god-like Fhrey. When one Fhrey is killed by a lesser Rhune, potential war between the two races begins to brew. Meanwhile, a Rhune township named Dahl Rhen struggles with leadership upheaval, political maneuvering, and a menacing bear that threatens to rip their limbs and lives to shreds.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: To be honest, this novel only caught my eye because of its wonderful cover image (see illustrator Marc Simonetti’s full version here). I have not read Michael J. Sullivan’s other Riyria novels, but this Riyria prequel and series starter seemed like a good place to begin. What’s admirable about this novel is that it tells a tight, self-contained story while also leaving enough loose threads to carry over into the subsequent sequels. Age of Myth feels like a quest in The Witcher video game series in the style of The Hobbit. Although dealing with the politics of racial inequality and the end of the world, the tale is lighter in tone than most other comparable fantasy series that trend towards the grimdark.

Sullivan positions his characters on far reaching parts of the map before their interests, fates, and motivations become intertwined. While the characters are apart, the story feels disjointed and lacking direction, but once these characters are thrust together things begin to click into place. The characters that Sullivan has placed in this world feel a bit hollow and underdeveloped, with the exception being Suri, the mystic girl who seems able to speak to trees, spirits, and her trusty wolf Minna. Suri is a fascinating and peculiar character who lights up every page that she graces. Suri’s presence and Sullivan’s knack for humor are a saving grace for a novel that I was not totally taken with at the outset. Buoyed by a strong third act filled with twists and monumental confrontations, the Age of Myth tells a satisfying tale that I would be interested in revisiting in the future–either in its sequel, Age of Swords, or Sullivan’s other Riyria novels.

★★★½ out of 5

Title: Before the Fall
Author: Noah Hawley
Pages: 400
Read via: Kindle
Summary: A private plane leaving Martha’s Vineyard crashes under mysterious circumstances. The backstory of each passenger is chronicled, while also telling the story of the two survivors.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: For a novel generating a lot of summer buzz, this was a bit of a letdown. “The thriller of the year” the description proclaims. In my eyes, I wouldn’t even describe it as a thriller, but more of a plodding mystery novel. Providing such deep backstories on each plane passenger would’ve been a more compelling tool if hints or red herrings had been dropped about why each person might seek to crash the plane. Without this, the time spent on the backstories seems wasted, especially once you find out the true reason for the plane crash. All of this is sandwiched between Hawley’s attempt at telling a deeper story about the pitfalls of the 24-hour news cycle and why wild public speculation can be counterproductive. In a way, it accomplished that, but it did so at the expense of weaving a compelling mystery tale.

★★ out of 5

Title: The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture
Author: Glen Weldon
Pages: 336
Read via: Hardcover/ebook
Summary: A definitive cultural history of Batman–from his comic book beginnings in 1939, to his 1960s television campiness, through his cinematic endeavors, and now to his present day existence as a pop culture icon for both nerds and non-nerds alike.

Review: Despite my self-identification as a Batman fan, there are a considerable number of holes to fill, mainly comic book related, when it comes to my knowledge of the history of the man behind the cowl. Luckily, Weldon does a beautiful job guiding the reader through each iteration of Batman in every medium imaginable, starting with the comics.

The general conceit of the book is that Batman takes a tremendous amount of heat from his own fans, who bemoan that each subsequent iteration of Batman does not represent their mental vision of how Batman should be. He’s either too campy, not campy enough, too brooding, not brooding enough, and so on. With so many versions of Batman to choose from, it makes sense why allegiances and opinions vary so much across the board. Without the aid of inlaid comic frames or examples, it was difficult, at times, to understand the full nature of Batman’s comic transitions. Hearing about line work that is “more confident,” “spare,” “jittery,” or “decidedly unpretty” does not always paint the clearest picture for the non-comic book fan in me.

Personally, I was much more enthralled when Batman’s cinematic history was outlined in detail, from Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher to Christopher Nolan–all Batman movies in name, but vastly different takes and styles in practice. Weldon’s ability to work the business side of Batman into this book grounded these fictions into reality by showing how each choice made in the fictional universe impacted sales and popularity (i.e., a Batman Returns-McDonald’s tie-in left the fast food giant upset with the dark, gross-out tone of the film and may have caused Warner Bros. to leave Burton behind and hand the reins over to director Joel Schumacher, who lightened everything up, albeit with too much nipple, in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). Weldon also simplifies the business side of the comic book game, spelling out how many issues were sold of which comic, how that compared to other series at the time, and how the industry trended, in general.

Weldon has deftly written about an icon who fans take very seriously (a man who dresses up like a bat to fight crime) with enough “why so serious?” humor to give the reader an outside, objective look at the history of the character and helps them understand why Batman has engendered such deeply passionate debate and fanhood over the past 75+ years.

★★★★ out of 5

Title: Marrow Island
Author: Alexis M. Smith
Pages: 256
Read via: Kindle
Summary: A young woman returns home to investigate a secretive community that has appeared on a nearby island, while further exploring her own issues related to past relationships and loss.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Perhaps it was unfair to want this novel to be something it was not, but that was what I kept feeling while reading this. It never quite reached the intrigue-piquing levels of books with similar plots and settings like California, The Lightkeepers, or The Beach. Every potential revelation was muted and underwhelming. Things appeared to be picking up steam about halfway through when the true nature of the secretive, cult-like society’s motivations were made clear, but any narrative momentum was quickly halted by the unsatisfying chapter structure that switched between past and present. This did not enhance the story and, at times, left me confused about the true timeline of events. I did enjoy Smith’s prose and her descriptions of nature, especially when it came to fungus. That withstanding, I was let down with this book overall, as the contents of the book never lived up to the description on the back.

★★ out of 5

Title: The Mechanical
Author: Ian Tregillis
Pages: 440
Read via: Paperback
Summary: In an alternate history, the Dutch have become a world superpower after creating an army of mechanical servants and soldiers named Clakkers, bound to carry out the whims of their masters through an alchemically induced compulsion to serve. The novel alternates between the points of view of three separate characters: a Clakker in the employ of a prominent Dutch family, a Pastor in the Netherlands operating as the last remaining member of a Papist spy ring, and a French spy master looking for ways to bring down the Dutch empire. Tregillis presents their varying motivations while exploring deeper issues related to free will.

Review: This work is a perfect blend of sometimes disparate genres (steampunk, alternate history, science fiction, fantasy). The tale Tregillis weaves and the world that he has created is so fully realized and fresh that I could not put this down. Every small detail of this alternate history is considered and presented to the reader and the events of the novel seem absolutely realistic had the technology/alchemy described existed at the time. While I enjoyed each character’s storyline, I was especially excited to read the chapters featuring Jax the Clakker. Seeing the world from his perspective and experiencing his transition from slave to free Clakker was truly fascinating. Tregillis manages to create an abundance of memorable scenes while utilizing both challenging and surprisingly readable prose. I often had to look up definitions of words I was unfamiliar with, but that did nothing to diminish my reading flow and further served to give me a deeper understanding of world in which I was living. I am exciting to read the remaining two books of this trilogy, as the rise of the Clakkers over their oppressive masters will likely be brutal, but oh so sweet.

★★★★★ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK